Chapter 7 - The Safe House in the Woods
The chill of the autumn night hit them like a physical blow as they stumbled out of the steam tunnel into the secluded forest behind the sanitarium.
“Keep moving, the van is just past that ridge,” Julian urged, supporting Olivia’s weight as her frail legs struggled to navigate the uneven terrain of roots and rocks.
Lucy stayed close, holding a small flashlight low to the ground to illuminate the path without catching the attention of any patrols on the perimeter road.
Ten agonizing minutes later, the nondescript delivery van loomed out of the darkness, its engine idling quietly with Marcus behind the wheel.
“Get in, get in!” Marcus hissed, pushing open the side door and helping Olivia into the back row of cushioned seats.
Julian climbed in right behind them, slamming the door shut and locking the heavy deadbolt as Marcus immediately shifted into drive and killed the headlights.
They peeled out onto the unpaved access road, the tires kicking up a spray of gravel as they vanished into the dense network of logging trails.
“Are we safe now?” Lucy asked quietly, wrapping a wool blanket around her mother’s shivering shoulders in the dim interior light.
“Not yet,” Julian replied, pulling out his encrypted satellite phone and dialing a sequence of numbers that bypassed the local cellular towers. “We need a secure location where Vance’s corporate tracking software can’t touch us.”
Marcus glanced in the rearview mirror, navigating the winding dirt roads with expert precision without the aid of headlights.
“I know a place. An old hunting lodge near Lake Winnipesaukee that belonged to your father, Julian. It’s entirely off the grid,” Marcus suggested.
Julian nodded in approval. “Drive there. And destroy the burner phones we’ve been using; assume Vance has our signals triangulated.”
Olivia leaned her head back against the headrest, her breathing ragged as she clutched Julian’s hand with surprising strength.
“Julian… the flash drive… it has more than just the checks,” Olivia whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the engine.
Julian turned his attention fully to her, leaning in close in the darkness. “What else is on it, Olivia?”
“It has the original recording of Arthur Vance planning the hostile takeover of your father’s shipping lanes… and the forged autopsy report,” Olivia said, coughing softly.
Before Julian could respond, the van shuddered violently as a loud explosion echoed from somewhere behind them on the access road.
“They found us!” Marcus shouted, slamming his foot down on the gas as the van lurched forward into the darkness.
Julian looked out the rear window, watching a pair of blinding high-beam headlights crest the distant ridge behind them at terrifying speed.
“They must have tracked the heat signature from the steam tunnel vents,” Julian cursed, unbuckling his seatbelt to move toward the front cabin.
“Hold on, this is going to get rough!” Marcus warned, taking a sharp ninety-degree turn onto an abandoned logging bypass that cut deep into the pines.
The van bounced violently over tree roots and rocks, the unsecured medical supplies crashing against the metal interior walls in a chaotic symphony.
Lucy wrapped her arms around her mother, shielding Olivia’s frail body from the violent impacts as the pursuing vehicle closed the distance.
Through the rear windshield, Julian saw the silhouette of an armored SUV pulling up alongside them on the narrow dirt track, its passenger-side window rolling down.
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“They’re going to run us off the road!” Julian yelled, bracing himself against the side panel as the heavy SUV slammed its front quarter-panel directly into the van.
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